Music and musicians
Until the 1800s, the Burmese harp and its music was exclusively used only for chamber music within the royal court, where it held status as the most prized of the court instruments.[3] Since then, it has become popular with the general population, but is still played only in more intimate chamber settings.
The harp is usually accompanied by a singer, or more accurately, the singer is accompanied by the harp, with the harp adapting to the singer, who controls the time with a bell and clapper to indicate the music tempo.
The Burmese classical music scale is tuned differently from the Western scale, and has been said to be derived from the descending cycle of fifths. This is only approximately true, and traditionally, the harp is tuned differently for the four major different modes of Burmese classical music.